Forty Words on the Back of a Lighthouse

Lyrics

A card came today with a lighthouse on front
The stamp slightly crooked, the ink a bit blurred
My sister, who never writes more than a line
Had filled up the back to the very last edge

She says that the sea is the colour of slate
She says that she thought of the school corridor songs
She says that she's grateful for all of the years
When I carried her satchel through puddles and rain

Forty words on the back of a lighthouse
Forty small words, and I'm home again
Thank you for the ink and the long way it travelled
I'll prop it on the shelf where the morning comes in

I read it aloud to the empty front room
The kettle sang softly, the clock kept its time
There's something in handwriting nobody copies
The loops of her g's, and the way that she signs

Forty words on the back of a lighthouse
Forty small words, and I'm home again
Thank you for the ink and the long way it travelled
I'll prop it on the shelf where the morning comes in

I'll write back tonight, on the good cream paper
I'll say that I'm well, and I'll say what I mean
Some love comes by post, and it's slower than lightning
But it keeps, like a pressed leaf, between

Forty words on the back of a lighthouse
Forty small words, and I'm home again
Thank you for the ink and the long way it travelled
I'll prop it on the shelf where the morning comes in

Where the morning comes in
Where the morning comes in